Frank Evangelista, right, struggles to open an exhibit containing one of two bullets that he removed from the body of deceased Fairfield jeweler Kim Donnelly, during day two of the Christopher DiMeo murder trial at Bridgeport Superior Court on Wednesday, January 19, 2011. At left is prosecuting Senior Assistant State's Attorney Joseph Corradino.
Photo: Brian A. Pounds, ST

District Attorney Patrick Haggan, left, displays one of the knives allegedly used in the murder lo Nachtwey as Dr. Frank Evangelista, the medical examiner who worked on the case in 2001, testifies during the trial of four men who are charged with the murder of Io Nachtwey Tuesday, April 12, 2005, in Boston. (AP Photo/Ted Fitzgerald, Pool)
Photo: File Photo

Evangelista has pleaded not guilty to the charge, according to the sources. The case is pending in Plymouth Superior Court. Evangelista, of North Granby, did not return multiple requests for comment on Tuesday.

Chief State's Attorney Kevin T. Kane recently sent communications to his more than 30 assistants notifying them of the charge against Evangelista. Medical examiners routinely testify in other states as expert witnesses and are paid by prosecutors or defense attorneys.

The head of the commission that oversees the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner in Connecticut said the panel is examining the charges against Evangelista, who earns $192,245 a year.

"I can tell you (Evangelista's) employed by the medical examiner, working full time," said Todd D. Fernow, chairman of the nine-member state Commission on Medicolegal Investigations. "I can tell you the matter is being looked into by me and the commission. I'm investigating certain allegations out of Massachusetts, but until the investigation is completed and I report to the (commission), I have to report there's no decision."

Kane, who is in charge of Connecticut's prosecutors, declined comment on Tuesday.

Details about the case, which dates back about six months, have apparently been impounded and set aside from public scrutiny under Massachusetts law. Of the 232 cases on file in Plymouth County, 18 have been impounded, according to state records.

"Among the things I'm looking at is an assessment of the merits and an inquiry into the legitimacy of the charges," said Fernow, who indicated he was skeptical of the charge. "We are going to have to make a judgment on it."

Evangelista, a forensic pathologist, has testified in Connecticut state courts on cases including the 2010 trial after the murder of Greenwich real estate executive Andrew Kissel; and the 2011 trial of Christopher DiMeo, who was convicted of killing Kim and Tim Donnelly in their Fairfield jewelry store and was sentenced to life in prison.

Evangelista graduated from the Georgetown University School of Medicine in 1996 and is board-certified in forensic pathology, anatomic pathology and clinical pathology. He was hired by Connecticut in October 2004.

H. Wayne Carver II, Connecticut's chief medical examiner, who heads an 11-person office with a $5.7 million budget on the campus of the University of Connecticut Health Center in Farmington, did not return requests for comment on Tuesday.

Susan O. Storey, Connecticut's chief public defender, said Tuesday that she had not received a communication from Kane on the issue.

Under state law, the Commission on Medicolegal Investigations has the sole administrative oversight of the medical examiner's office, which investigates violent, sudden or unexpected deaths in the state.